WRIST ICONS presents another super cool Heuer Autavia. The 1163 MH Autavia as worn by the famous racing legend Derek Bell in the early 70s. This watch is a rare specimen.
this watch has just been serviced by our watchmaker and is perfectly usable as a daily wearer.

It looks a lot like the later Autavia Viceroy, the watch one could buy with a cigarette promotion (“…to get this $200 watch with gift case, just send 1 Viceroy carton end flap and $88 to…”). Both have the reverse panda lay out with great red accents.

What sets the Derek Bell MK 5 apart from the Viceroy are the steel hands without the red paint on the tips and the scaling of the hour counter sub dial which stated 3-6-9-12 instead of 1,2,3-12. This execution also has the polished hour markers instead of the ridged hour markers. As a cherry on the cake this this particular Autavia also has its original 1969 Gay Freres single grain rise bracelet.

Condition:
This stunning example of the Heuer Autavia 1163 MH Autavia Mark 5 Derek Bell has just been completely serviced by our watchmaker. He is a retired watchmaker that has contributed to the development of Caliber 11 when he was working as an employee at Breitling on project 99 (the joint venture of Heuer, Breitling and Hamilton to develop the world’s first automatic chronographs).

Case: the case is in excellent condition. The case has never been polished with superficial scratches throughout. These cases are notoriously difficult to polish, with the aforementioned lines being the hardest. This example, has perfect lines going through. This 1163MH has its sunburst finish on the top, brushed sides and thick bevels throughout. When you examine the case you will see that the brush marks are still visible on the top side of the case (also some scratches), the straight-line lugs are sharp and thick, and the side profile is as it should be, grained on the front and the sides. It has a slight shine/polish look to it from what I think is many years of wearing. The bevels on the lugs are polished, The unique reference number is also visible between the lugs. This Heuer Autavia Mark 5 Derek Bell is noteworthy, both for its design and execution. It is an really honest and exceptionally original example of a Heuer 1163 Autavia Derek Bell.

We usually see an MH (minute hour bezel) on this reference. As a customer you could opt for a different bezel. Most likely the client asked for tachymeter bezel. The condition of this bezel is remarkable. No scratches and in a beautiful original condition.

Dial and hands: similarly to the case, the reversed panda dial is in almost new condition, the matte black base of the dial has a really nice warm patina with a kind of brown color which you can only see in the sunlight. All the red accents all remain their vibrant brightness! The large two-tone dial is silvered with applied polished steel markers (no ridges), no indexes at 3,6,9, two subsidiary engine-turned white dials for the 12-hour and 30-minute registers which have also been very well preserved and a rimmed date at 6h. The hour recorder has numbers at each of the 12 hours.. The red non re-painted chronograph hand corresponds with the red 5-minute/5-second markers on the 1/5th second outer black division. The domed glass is acrylic. The luminous material of the dial and hands is all consistent when using an UV flash light. There is a minor dark spot visible just below the 20 of the minute sub dial counter.

Movement: the watch carries the above-mentioned self-winding Caliber 12. It has a gilt finish, blued steel screws, 17 jewels, a monometallic balance with flat self-compensating balance spring and Incabloc shock absorbers. The movement measures 13.75 ligne, with a diameter of 31mm and a height of 7.7mm. It has a bi-directional micro rotor, beating at 21,600 A/h, with a power reserve of 42-hours. The movement is clean, and during the time of testing the watch was fully functional. The movement has just been serviced by our watchmaker.

Bracelet/strap: this watch comes on an original Gay Freres single grain beads of rice bracelet with original Heuer clasp with code 3rd quarter of 1969. One HLD and one HLF end link.

Overall, the exceptional finishing of the Heuer 1163 Autavia Derek Bell is noteworthy, both for its design and execution. This steel Heuer 1163 Autavia Derek Bell is is remarkably well preserved.

As with all of our pre-owned watches this watch comes with a full 12 month WRIST ICONS warranty that will be invoked from the day of purchase. Please check our website to have a look at the high resolution pictures on a macro level. You will see every detail at its best. Viewings can be arranged at our office by appointment.

Price:€6000,00 inc worldwide shipping or reasonable offers. More info, please visit: https://www.wristicons.com/heuer-1163-mh-autavia-mark-5-derek-bell.html
Please send me a DM though whatsapp or call +31634141572 for additional lume shots, pictures of the first filled in page of the certificate (better readable) and video.

I have sold some pieces through Chronotrader (check Wouter ) several references on Omega Forum and only positive feed-back on chrono24 (Trusted seller).

Brand: Heuer
Model: Autavia
Reference: 1163
Year:1971
Caliber:12
Case number:2040xx
Case: It has a stainless steel case with screw down case back which is signed Heuer-Leonidas SA SWISS STAINLESS STEEL